There’s a bit of a tall poppy syndrome in Australia where we shoot down people more successful than ourselves, so I must say that I find it odd that people should mock Liz Truss who, after all, did manage to become Britain’s PM for a whole two months… Ok, it wasn’t quite two months but it was certainly closer to two months than two years and I think we have to all admit that none of us have been Prime Minister of any country for that long…

So, let’s hear it for Liz and give her a big slap on the back and congratulate her for taking it on the chin and not going into a foetal position. She’s out there giving advice on how Australia can avoid making the same mistakes that Britain made… no, not the one about letting her take over from Boris… and no, not the one about making party boy Boris the leader… and no, not the Brexit one.

No, none of those. The one about getting too woke because we all know that it’s this woke thing that keeps us awake at night when we’d be better off sleeping like Britain seems to have done since it ruled the waves…

For those of you unfamiliar with our history, Britain once ruled the sea. The waves doesn’t refer to those Mexican ones that have been banned at certain arenas. A thing that happened before Trump told us how bad Mexicans were. In fact, the original second verse of our national anthem goes:

When gallant Cook from Albion sail’d,
To trace wide oceans o’er,
True British courage bore him on,
Til he landed on our shore.
Then here he raised Old England’s flag,
The standard of the brave;
“With all her faults we love her still”
“Britannia rules the wave.”
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance, Australia fair.

For reasons that are probably part of that woke agenda, we deleted that. (Note to self: let Sky After Dark know so they can launch a campaign to have it restored!)

Anyway, for those who are unaware:

• Cook is James Cook who was a seafaring man
• Albion is an alternative name for Britain. I don’t know why Britain needed an alias, but it may have been so people didn’t associate her with past crimes. Possibly that’s what’s being referenced in the line “With all her faults we love her still”!
• The word “still”, I presume, refers to the fact that we haven’t changed our minds, not a device for making moonshine… Although the early convicts probably did love anyone’s still.
• I don’t know the difference between “British courage” and the regular kind but if someone can find out I’d be grateful.
• I also find it confusing that he raised the flag of “Old England” and not the newer British one, which suggests that there may be some confusion about the whole claim and we may need to test this in the High Court.

Whatever, I guess it’s lucky that Liz is here in Oz so we can pose some of these questions to her. Looking forward to her answers…